Donna, I am so sorry for your loss. One of my fondest memories of Press is when he and David went on the George Henry rafting trip which I also enjoyed. I remember many conversations with him as well as David's or was it his taking photos on the trip. I also attended a showing of his photography as well as Dick and I saw you at many dances . My prayers are with you at this sad time.

Evelyn Moore
May 8, 2014

My thoughts are with you all. Dean Cole was a hero of mine and I will always be grateful to him for taking a chance and hiring me to develop the adult student programs at Coe in 1978. I learned so much from him, especially leadershp skills. He was always so up-beat and positive in his outlook and had such a gift for letting you figure out how to solve your problems, maddening when you wanted advice, but wise in helping one grow. Without realizing it I'm sure, he continued to guide my work throughout the rest of my working days. I treasured his words of wisdom and appreciated his guidance. Dot Hinman

Dot Hinman
May 9, 2014

Donna, David and Eric--- My memories of Pres go back almost 70 years, when I, as a student at Northwestern University, wrote a letter to him, an incoming transfer student, inviting him to participate in the Methodist Student Foundation. He, of course, did participate and was our President one year. Pres and I had one thing in common, we were both PK’s (Preacher’s Kids), he growing up in Oklahoma and Missouri and I in Central Illinois. Following their graduations, Donna and Dawn, coincidentally, were both Social Workers on the same team working with clients in the area west of the loop in Chicago. It was not the safest area but the residents respected them as they walked with their black notebooks. Over the years we did not see much of each other until one Saturday morning, while I was at a shoe store, a fellow began following me around the store. Of course, that was Pres, who had recognized me. He and Donna had just moved to Cedar Rapids. And there our friendship was renewed. We shared dinners at each other’s homes, went to countless plays at the Old Creamery Players in the Amanas and were active members of Lovely Lane UMC. And we remember the meals shared at Deer Ridge on evenings when the lady with the keyboard played and sang the songs we all knew so well. I recall one cold fall afternoon when Pres and I went to an Iowa-Northwestern football game at Kinnick Stadium, sitting in the midst of the Hawkeye fans, when a woman in front of me opened her coat, proudly showing her Northwestern sweatshirt. We remember the tile floor they had installed in their basement as they maintained their ability to “trip the light fantastic” at the Ponderosa Ballroom in Walford. I, a duffer, shared a few rounds of golf over the years with Pres, a very avid golfer. Our daughter Sue, who as a teenager was the coat girl for one of the Coe faculty/staff open houses that Pres and Donna hosted, remembers him as years later he officiated at their wedding. And then there were his watercolor paintings that we viewed at Ginsberg’s jewelry store every other year until the flood of 2008. One of his painting graces our living room wall. Dawn’s favorite is his self-portrait. Paul and Dawn Nylin

Paul and Dawn Nylin
May 9, 2014

My sincere condolences on the death of your dear husband, Donna. My sympathies to you and your family.

Norbe B. Boettcher
May 10, 2014

I regret that I am late in learning about the death of J. Preston Cole. I am not certain whether anyone will read these words but want to share my memories of Pres with anyone who might. He was the Methodist chaplain at The University of Chicago during the three years I was in graduate study there. He conducted a seminar-type Sunday evening gathering for graduate students. One of the things that made it so exciting was that I had the feeling that he was exploring every topic along with the rest of us. We delved into alternative perspectives on social engagement and religion, Biblical interpretation, and numerous other topics. Pres was also one of a group of ministers who went to Mississippi during that period to witness to fairness and justice in the racial turmoil of the times. He was an inspiration as well as a friend. I lost touch with Pres when I left campus after my course work and did not see him on the few occasions I returned, including for my doctoral defense. I did have one additional, but brief, moment to see him again in 1992. When our son Robert graduated from Coe College, Pres was also honored as a retiring faculty member. Only then did I realize that Robert had had the benefit of taking a course from him. Many more memories and comments come to mind, but I just want to offer condolences to all who feel the loss of this wonderful person from their lives. My alma mater, Willamette University, has a Latin motto: Non nobis solum nati sumus -- We are not born unto ourselves alone. J. Preston Cole touched many lives. I am glad that mine was one of them.

William L. Richter
February 13, 2018